


An Early Morning Start

by Umbrella_ella



Series: A Fair Trade [Publisher/Author Verse] [2]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M, author!Belle, publisher!Gold, this is literally a cavity waiting to happen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-22
Updated: 2018-08-22
Packaged: 2019-06-30 23:23:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 539
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15761847
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Umbrella_ella/pseuds/Umbrella_ella
Summary: Belle interrupts a very cheery R. Gold on his way into his office, and the two begin their work on Belle's dreadful first chapter, the first of many.





	An Early Morning Start

**Author's Note:**

> Enjoy, and please, leave a comment or kudos if you're so inclined!

Rumford is quite happy this morning, and it’s inexplicable, really, how cheery he is. It very rarely occurs, and even rarer still does he smile. A few stares follow him, but he can’t be bothered to glare back at the gawping residents, even as he drops his keys on the pavement. He leans down to scoop them up, attempting to juggle his paper coffee cup and cane in one hand, but finds himself staring up into familiar blue eyes.

Belle French is all smiles, and with that, his mood sours.

Her red lips are hued with a touch of lipstick, and she pulls at her bottom lip as she holds his keys out.

“Here you are, Mr. Gold.”

“Ms. French. What are you doing here so early?” It’s really not a question he expects her to answer, nor does he particularly want her to, but she takes a breath, sighs out, and grins once more.

Rumford grunts, shifting until he finds the key he’s searching for. The lock sticks, it always has, and with an unbidden sigh, recalls that he needs to get David Nolan to fix the bathroom sink as well as, apparently, the lock. He hopes that his lack of eye contact will perhaps hint at her to go away.

It does not, and he flips on the lights inside of his small office, gritting his teeth at the way her breath practically feathers his greying hair. 

“Well, I was wondering if we might go over some things?” she asks, and he furrows his brow, his coffee drained and tossed. The chair creaks as he sits in the quiet between them and Rumford looks at her in askance.

“Things?” he grunts.

“In my novel. You said that if I could fix it by April– did you not mean it?”

Rumford bites his tongue, wary of letting a laugh escape. The girl actually means to try. He would think it noble if she weren’t so daft. 

“Of course I did, Miss French. Please, sit.”

Belle does just that, slipping out of her coat and letting it bundle at her waist, pooling around her. Rumford clears his throat, and tries not to look at the way her dress, blue and far too floral for his taste, dips below her collarbone, offering him a view of her smooth, unblemished skin. He scowl deepens.

“Right, what do you have with you today?”

His reaches for his red pen and they begin their work on the papers she’s thumped onto his desk. All in all, the first chapter is better than the others, most certainly, but the world-building could use some work, so he asks her to ponder questions that will help her improve the bits that need work.

It’s half-nine when they’re done, and Belle pales when she notes the time.

“Oh, I have to go! I’m late for work– sorry!”

Belle scrambles for her jacket and her bag, rushing out an apology and he colors at the very thought of forgetting the time, and waves her away with a brisk shoo motion.

It’s not until he looks down, the bell at the door jangling loudly with her exit, that he realizes that Belle’s manuscript is still sitting on his desk.


End file.
